Mergers & Acquisitions

Houston – Cardtronics, Inc. has expanded its relationship with Tedeschi Food Shops, a Rockland, Mass.-based convenience store company. The broadened agreement names Cardtronics the exclusive ATM services provider for Tedeschi Food Shops. Cardtronics is the world’s largest retail ATM owner.

York, Pa. -- Bon -Ton Stores said its CEO, Brendan Hoffman, will step down early next year. The announcement follows a disappointing fourth quarter for the company.

Hoffman, a former CEO of Lord & Taylor, will leave Bon-Ton on Feb. 7, 2015, when his contract expires. He also will step down as director. Hoffman cited "strictly personal reasons" for his decision to leave.

He was appointed CEO of Bon-Ton in February 2012.

ZAANDAM, the Netherlands — Ahold has entered into an agreement to acquire Spar's business in the Czech Republic. The acquisition includes 50 stores of which 36 are compact hypers and 14 are supermarkets.

New York -- Plus-sized retailer Ashley Stewart has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As part of its restructuring plan, the company announced it will immediately close 27 underperforming locations. Ashley Stewart currently operates some 168 stores. The company previously filed Chapter 11 in 2010.

In a separate statement, the company said potential buyers have expressed interest in buying the chain.

New York -- Ending a five-month saga, Men's Wearhouse said it would acquire Jos. A. Bank Clothiers for about $1.8 billion, or $65 per share in cash. As part of the deal, Jos. A. Bank will terminate its plan to acquire Eddie Bauer from Golden Gate Capital.
 
The boards of both companies unanimously  approved the transaction.

Dallas — Crunch Fitness is coming to Texas. Dallas entrepreneur, author and founder of Planet Tan, Tony Hartl plans to roll out eight to 10 Crunch Fitness locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area by 2016.

According to reports, eBay is urging shareholders to reject a slate of board members nominated by activist investor Carl Icahn and instead support nominees picked by the company.

Reuters has reported that eBay is asking shareholders to re-elect existing directors CEO John Donahoe, company co-founder and managing director Fred Anderson, Intuit co-founder Scott Cook and former Agilent Technologies CEO Edward Barnholt.

Houston -- Mattress Firm Holding Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire the outstanding equity interests of Sleep Experts Partners L.P., which operates Sleep Experts retail stores in Texas. In addition, Mattress Firm completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and operations of Yotes, Inc., which operated stores under the Mattress Firm brand in Colorado and Kansas, as well as the Virginia retail operations of Southern Max LLC.